The Expedition

Abhijan

Synopsis

Cabdriver Narsingh (Soumitra Chatterjee) makes the mistake of overtaking the car of the sub-district officer and the infuriated official cancels his permit. Returning to his native village, he agrees to give a ride to Sukhanram (Charu Prokash Ghose) and his “maidservant” Gulabi (Waheeda Rehman).

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A beautiful morality tale that isn't moralistic, but concerned with the question of what is a good life. A taxi driver of warrior-caste descent is tempted into a life of crime, but confronted with the goodness in those around him...
Cinematographically superb as ever, but the nighttime driving shots particularly stand out

Shot in superb landscapes, Satyajit Ray's ABHIJAN teeters between melodrama and social study. And it works. One learns a lot about Indian castes and religions between two car chases. A great surprise. Highly recommended. A DVD zone discovery.

There's something so intelligent and special about Ray's narrative style: the way he allows the relationships to breathe on the screen and the subtlety with which the motives and actions of the individuals are shown to be driven by the social context. In this respect he is a genuinely modern filmmaker. Oh, and it looks and sounds great as well.